Strake Jesuit College Preparatory (properly referred to as Strake Jesuit or Jesuit but often informally called Strake by students and alumni) is a

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college-preparatory school A college-preparatory school (usually shortened to preparatory school or prep school) is a type of secondary school. The term refers to public, private independent or parochial schools primarily designed to prepare students for higher education ...

for

boys A boy is a young male human. The term is commonly used for a child or an adolescent. When a male human reaches adulthood, he is described as a man. Definition, etymology, and use According to the ''Merriam-Webster Dictionary'', a boy is "a ...

, grades 9–12, in the

Chinatown A Chinatown () is an ethnic enclave of Chinese people located outside Greater China, most often in an urban setting. Areas known as "Chinatown" exist throughout the world, including Europe, North America, South America, Asia, Africa and Austra ...

area and in the

Greater Sharpstown Southwest Management District, formerly Greater Sharpstown Management District, is a district in Houston, Texas, United States. The district is split into 6 neighborhoods: Sharpstown, Chinatown, Mahatma Gandhi District/Little India, Westwood, H ...

district of

Houston, Texas Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

, United States.Chinatown
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Alief Alief is a working-class suburb in Southwest Harris County, Texas, Harris County, Texas, United States. Most of Alief is within the city limits of Houston, while a portion of the community is in Unincorporated area#United States, unincorporated ...

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Houston Chronicle The ''Houston Chronicle'' is the largest daily newspaper in Houston, Texas, United States. , it is the third-largest newspaper by Sunday circulation in the United States, behind only ''The New York Times'' and the ''Los Angeles Times''. With it ...

''. August 8, 1993. Section C, Page 1. Retrieved July 21, 2011. With over 1,200 students, it is the largest

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

high school in Houston. It has a full-time curator for its art collection; the

City of Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

has classified the campus as an art museum. The school is located within the

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

. It is one of only two private schools in Texas that are members of the

University Interscholastic League The University Interscholastic League (UIL) is an organization that creates rules for and administers almost all athletic, musical, and academic contests for public primary and secondary schools in the U.S. state of Texas. It is the largest organi ...

(the other being Dallas Jesuit), which allows it to compete athletically against the largest public schools.

History

The school was founded by Father Michael Kenelley, S.J., on June 21, 1960, in what was then the undeveloped, west side of Houston. It is named in honor of oil tycoon George William Strake Sr. The school's patron saint is

Stanislaus Kostka Stanisław Kostka S.J. (28 October 1550 – 15 August 1568) was a Polish novice of the Society of Jesus. He is venerated in the Catholic Church as Saint Stanislaus Kostka (as distinct from his namesake, the 11th-century Bishop of Kraków S ...

, a Polish Jesuit who serves as a patron of students; additionally, as a Jesuit institution,

Ignatius of Loyola Ignatius of Loyola, Society of Jesus, S.J. (born Íñigo López de Oñaz y Loyola; eu, Ignazio Loiolakoa; es, Ignacio de Loyola; la, Ignatius de Loyola; – 31 July 1556), venerated as Saint Ignatius of Loyola, was a Spain, Spanish Catholic ...

is invoked as an unofficial patron saint. In 1971, the school asked to declare Chapter 10 bankruptcy as it lost money in the

Sharpstown scandal The Sharpstown scandal was a stock fraud scandal in the state of Texas in 1971 and 1972 involving the highest levels of the state government. The name came from the involvement of the Sharpstown area of Houston. Background The scandal revolved a ...

. The school surrendered seven acres of its original property to pay its debts and emerge from bankruptcy protection. The seven-acre tract was repurchased by the school in 2012 for $3.3 million. From 1990 to 1993, the number of applications submitted to Strake Jesuit doubled. Fr. Brian Zinnamon, the school president, said during the year that there were twice as many applicants as available spots. At the time, tuition was $4,700 per year, described by the ''

'' as steep. Father Zinnamon said, "Certainly what is going on in the public schools is a factor. Parents are choosing a safe environment where they know their children are getting Christian values." In 2005, before

Hurricane Katrina Hurricane Katrina was a destructive Category 5 Atlantic hurricane that caused over 1,800 fatalities and $125 billion in damage in late August 2005, especially in the city of New Orleans and the surrounding areas. It was at the time the cost ...

, the school had 899 students. An additional 410 were temporarily enrolled at Strake after the hurricane for a period of time from Jesuit High School in

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

Athletics

The "Fighting Crusaders" were one of many Catholic high schools that originally competed in the now defunct T.C.I.L. (Texas Christian Interscholastic League). The league began in 1935 under the direction of Albert Mitchell (then principal of Central Catholic,

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). Strake Jesuit's last year of competition in the T.C.I.L. concluded when the league came to a close in the 1999–2000 athletic season with the baseball team capturing the final T.C.I.L. State Championship in any sport. After T.C.I.L. merged with

TAPPS The Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools, or TAPPS, is an organization headquartered in the Lone Star Tower at Texas Motor Speedway Fort Worth, Texas. It was formerly headquartered at the Salado Civic Center in Salado, Texas. Fou ...

, both Strake Jesuit and Dallas Jesuit were not permitted to join as TAPPS believed those two schools were too powerful. From the fall of 2000 to the spring of 2003, the Crusaders competed as an independent in all sports. They were admitted into the

(U.I.L.), the public school athletic league, partly due to the efforts of Joe Nixon, a member of the

Texas House of Representatives The Texas House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Texas Legislature. It consists of 150 members who are elected from single-member districts for two-year terms. As of the 2010 United States census, each member represents abou ...

Texas Senate The Texas Senate ( es, Senado de Texas) is the upper house of the Texas State Legislature. There are 31 members of the Senate, representing single-member districts across the U.S. state of Texas, with populations of approximately 806,000 per cons ...

Bill 1943 opened the UIL to Strake and Dallas Jesuit, which established rules to put those two schools on equal footing with public schools. After its admission into the U.I.L., Strake Jesuit began competing in its listed district of 19-5A in the fall of 2003. The Crusaders have won several district and regional championships along with a state championship, state runners-up, and state semi-finalists within the past eight years in the U.I.L. The "Fighting Crusaders" athletic department provides 14 different programs which include: baseball, basketball, cross-country, football, golf, ice hockey, lacrosse, rugby, soccer, swimming & diving, tennis, track & field, water polo, and wrestling. The ''

Houston Press The ''Houston Press'' is an online newspaper published in Houston, Texas, United States. It is headquartered in the Midtown area. It was also a weekly print newspaper until November 2017. The publication is supported entirely by advertising ...

'' ranked the U.I.L. realignment as the "Best Way to Break In to the Big Time" in 2003.

Rivalry

Despite moving to the U.I.L., Strake Jesuit had a storied rivalry with Saint Thomas High School (STH). Since its beginning in 1964, Strake Jesuit had a record of 24–29–1 against STH. However, as of 2020, both schools have announced the end of the annual competition and Strake Jesuit will now compete with Dallas Jesuit instead. This decision however was disliked by students and alumni from both schools.

Notable alumni

* Gerald Hills (1973) – politician and educator; former chair of the

Michigan Republican Party The Michigan Republican Party is the state affiliate of the national Republican Party in Michigan, sometimes referred to as MIGOP. Ronald Weiser was elected chairman in 2021. Ronna Romney McDaniel was the chairwoman of the party, having been el ...

Jim Murphy James Francis Murphy (born 23 August 1967) is a Scottish former politician who served as Leader of the Scottish Labour Party from 2014 to 2015 and Secretary of State for Scotland from 2008 to 2010. He was Member of Parliament (MP) for East Ren ...

(1976) – Member of

Rod Graves Rod Graves (born March 16, 1959) is the former senior vice president of football administration for the New York Jets of the National Football League (NFL). He is best known for his time as general manager of the Arizona Cardinals. He had previo ...

(1977) – former General Manager of the

Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division, and play t ...

* Fred Viancos (1980) – former professional tennis player and chief operating officer of United States Professional Tennis Association *

Eric Mullins Eric Mullins (born July 30, 1962) is a former American football wide receiver. He played for the History of the Houston Oilers, Houston Oilers in 1984. References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mullins, Eric 1962 births Living people American football wi ...

(1980) – Co-CEO of Lime Rock Resources and former

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the major ...

player * Chris Darkins (1980) – former NFL running back *

Garth Jax James Garth Jax (born September 16, 1963) is a former American football linebacker in the National Football League, who played for the Dallas Cowboys and Arizona Cardinals, Phoenix/Arizona Cardinals. He played college football at Florida State Un ...

(1982) – former NFL linebacker *

Bill Nguyen Bill Nguyen (born 1971) is a Vietnamese-American technology entrepreneur. Life Nguyen grew up in Houston, the son of Vietnamese people, Vietnamese immigrants. He attended Strake Jesuit College Preparatory, graduating in 1991, then attended Housto ...

(1991) - Technology entrepreneur, founder of Onebox.com,

SEVEN Networks SEVEN Networks, Inc. is a privately funded American corporation founded in 2000. It had about 265 employees in 2010. As of 2017, the company has research and development centers in Texas and Finland. SEVEN mobile messaging products are turnkey ...

, La La Media Inc., and

Color labs Color Labs, Inc. was a start-up based in Palo Alto, California, United States, US. Its main product was the eponymous mobile app for sharing photos through Social networking service, social networking. It allowed people to take photos in addition ...

Jake Voskuhl Robert Jacob Voskuhl (born November 1, 1977) is retired American professional basketball player. After attending Strake Jesuit College Preparatory, Voskuhl went to the University of Connecticut from 1996 to 2000, where he was the starting cente ...

(1996) – former NBA player * Derek Lyons (2000) –

Counselor to the President Counselor or counsellor may refer to: A professional In diplomacy and government * Counsellor of State, senior member of the British royal family to whom the Monarch can delegate some functions in case of unavailability * Counselor (dipl ...

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...

* Nelson Akwari (2000) – former professional soccer player *

Chris Ogbonnaya Christopher Irem Ogbonnaya ( ; born May 20, 1986) is a former American football running back. He was drafted by the St. Louis Rams in the seventh round of the 2009 NFL Draft. He played college football at the University of Texas at Austin, Unive ...

(2002) – former NFL running back * Nicolas Jean-Baptiste (2007) – former NFL nose tackle *

Greg Casar Gregorio Eduardo Casar (born May 4, 1989) is an American politician who is the member for Texas's 35th congressional district in the United States Congress since 2023. He served as a member of the Austin City Council from the 4th district from 20 ...

(2007) – former Member of the

Austin City Council The Austin City Council is the unicameral legislature of the city of Austin, Texas, United States of America. The mayor is included as a member of the council and presides over all council meetings and ceremonies. The current mayor of Austin is ...

* David King (2008) – former NFL defensive end *

Austin Claunch Austin Claunch (born November 17, 1989) is an American college basketball coach, and current head coach of the Nicholls Colonels men's basketball team. Playing career Claunch played four years at Emory, where he was a three-time First Team All- ...

(2008) – college basketball coach, head coach of

Nicholls State Colonels The Nicholls Colonels are the 15 teams representing Nicholls State University, a university in Louisiana, in intercollegiate athletics. The Colonels compete in the NCAA Division I and the Colonels football team competes in the NCAA Division I ...

Tim Frazier Tim Frazier (born November 1, 1990) is an American professional basketball player for AEK Athens of the Greek Basket League and the Basketball Champions League. Frazier played high school basketball for Strake Jesuit College Preparatory and com ...

(2009) –

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

player *

Juan Adams Juan Alejandro Arcienego-Adams (born January 16, 1992) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter and currently competes in the heavyweight division of the PFL. Adams formerly competed in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). Background ...

(2010) – professional

mixed martial artist Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, incorp ...

* Pace Murphy (2012) – former NFL offensive tackle *

Ilolo Izu Ilolo Izu (born May 28, 1997) is an American sprinter, specialized in the 400 metres hurdles and 400 metres. Biography Ilolo Izu was born in Arlington, Texas and attended Strake Jesuit College Preparatory for high school, and Texas A&M for colle ...

(2015) – track and field athlete specializing in sprints and hurdles *

Matthew Boling Matthew Boling (born June 20, 2000) is an American track and field athlete specializing in the sprints and long jump. He won four gold medals at the 2019 Pan American U20 Championships in the 100 m, 200 m, 4 × 100 ...

(2019) – track and field athlete specializing in

sprints Sprint may refer to: Aerospace *Spring WS202 Sprint, a Canadian aircraft design *Sprint (missile), an anti-ballistic missile Automotive and motorcycle * Alfa Romeo Sprint, automobile produced by Alfa Romeo between 1976 and 1989 *Chevrolet Sprint ...

and

long jump The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a gr ...

Notes

References

External links

* *

Jesuit Schools Network The Jesuit Schools Network (JSN) is the umbrella association for secondary schools run by the Society of Jesus in North America. It is affiliated with the Jesuit Conference of Canada and the United States. Based in Washington, D.C., the network ser ...

for other Jesuit high schools
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Galveston–Houston
{{authority control 1960 establishments in Texas Boys' schools in Texas Catholic secondary schools in Texas Educational institutions established in 1960 Jesuit high schools in the United States Jesuit New Orleans Province Private high schools in Houston Roman Catholic secondary schools in Houston